SABR Digital Library: Au jeu/Play Ball: The 50 Greatest Games in the History of the Montreal Expos

Add a championship book to your collection with the newest e-book from SABR Digital Library:

Au jeu/Play Ball: The 50 Greatest Games in the History of the Montreal Expos
Edited by Norm King
Foreword by Dave Van Horne
ISBN (paperback): 978-1-9438-1615-6, $12.95
ISBN (ebook): 978-1-9438-1614-9, $5.99
149 pages, 8.5″ x 11″

This volume by members of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) presents the 50 greatest games in Montreal Expos history. The games described here recount the exploits of the many great players who wore Expos uniforms over the years — Bill Stoneman, Gary Carter, Andre Dawson, Steve Rogers, Pedro Martinez, and others.

The book details games from the earliest days of the franchise, to the glory years of 1979-81, the what-might-have-been years of the early 1990s, and the sad, final days. It describes the famous first game at Shea Stadium on April 8, 1969, when the Expos defeated that year’s eventual world champion New York Mets. It also details the first regular season major league game ever played outside the United States, when fans jammed little Jarry Park and began a love affair with the team.

These game summaries don’t just retell the runs, hits, and errors. They give a context to the times and individuals involved. The article about Dennis Martinez’s perfect game also describes how he overcame his struggle with alcohol to resurrect his career. The piece about Curtis Pride recounts how he reached the major leagues despite the disadvantages of deafness, and what it felt like when 45,000 fans cheered as Expos coach Jerry Manuel spurred him through gestures to acknowledge the crowd.

 

SABR members, get this e-book for FREE!

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About the SABR Digital Library

For more than 40 years, SABR and its members have led the way in publishing the best baseball historical and statistical research. Our publications program is shifting to take advantage of new methods of publishing. Not only will we continue to publish new books like Can He Play? A Look At Baseball Scouts and Their Profession (released in December 2011); Opening Fenway Park in Style: The 1912 World Champion Red Sox (May 2012); Detroit Tigers 1984: What A Start! What A Finish! (December 2012); Sweet ’60: The 1960 Pittsburgh Pirates (April 2013); Inventing Baseball: The 100 Greatest Games of the 19th Century (July 2013); Thar’s Joy in Braveland: The 1957 Milwaukee Braves (May 2014); Detroit the Unconquerable: The 1935 Detroit Tigers (December 2014); Winning on the North Side: The 1929 Chicago Cubs (February 2015); Scandal on the South Side: The 1919 Chicago White Sox (June 2015); The Team That Time Won’t Forget: The 1951 New York Giants (December 2015); and Nuclear Powered Baseball/The Simpsons (February 2016), which showcase the best efforts of SABR’s members, chapters and committees, but new technology makes it possible for us to bring out-of-print titles like Run, Rabbit, Run: The Hilarious and Mostly True Tales of Rabbit Maranville (February 2012), Great Hitting Pitchers (March 2012), Nineteenth Century Stars (August 2012); Batting (January 2013); The Fenway Project (September 2013); and ’75: The Red Sox Team That Saved Baseball (April 2015) back again.

Books will be available in digital formats as well as paperbacks produced by “print on demand” (POD).

SABR members will get discounted rates for all Digital Library publications, including many for free. If you’re not a member, click here to join SABR.

Stay tuned throughout the year for new (and old!) titles that we’ll be adding to the SABR Digital Library. To learn more about SABR Publications, contact Publications Editor Cecilia Tan at ctan@sabr.org.

 

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Originally published: April 25, 2016. Last Updated: August 6, 2020.